Miguel Renaud's big heart

When Kiana Levac couldn't eat the chocolate at a school Easter egg hunt because of her peanut allergy, her classmate Miguel Renaud brought her a treat that evening. Photo by Heidi Ulrichsen.

Nine-year-old Kiana Levac came home from school feeling a little sad April 17.

The Grade 3 École élémentaire catholique St-Joseph student is allergic to peanuts and hadn't been able to participate in an Easter egg hunt with the rest of her class, as the chocolates weren't labelled peanut-free.

Better to be safe than sorry. The teacher had done her best to make Kiana feel included by giving her an Easter ornament. Still, the little girl was disappointed.

“She told me three or four times after school, 'But I didn't get chocolate,'” said Kiana's mom, Melanie Levac.

“My husband picked up Miguel from daycare, and when he saw him, he kind of noticed he was not his usual self,” said Miguel's mom, Line Renaud. “He was kind of sad-looking. He asked him what was going on. He said 'We had that Easter egg hunt, and the teacher gave us chocolates, but Kiana couldn't have any.'”

Line said her husband phoned her and asked her to pick up some peanut-free chocolate on the way home from work.

Because it was the Thursday before the Easter weekend, there was no school on Friday, so Miguel asked his parents if they could bring the treat to Kiana's home.

Miguel phoned the family himself to see if it was OK, and they drove over.

As Miguel handed over the chocolate bunny to Kiana, the classmates were a bit shy with each other. Her shyness aside, Melanie said Kiana ate the treat right after the other family left.

The kindness Miguel and his parents showed Kiana is impressive, she said.

“I had tears in my eyes,” Melanie said. “I couldn't believe it. I thought 'Oh my God, this is so sweet.' I can't believe that they thought about Kiana. I didn't think another family would go out of their way to do that.”

For his part, Miguel said he was “a little sad” when Kiana was left out of the classroom activity. He said he likes to do nice things for other people.

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